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Maurice and Maralyn
Sophie Elmhirst
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for Maurice and Maralyn
Hardcover.
**A Guardian, Observer & Waterstones Nonfiction Book of 2024**
** A Financial Times BEST SUMMER READ**
'One of those very special books that makes you put everything on hold so you can get back to it' RACHEL JOYCE
What begins as an eccentric English love story turns into one of the most dramatic adventures ever recorded...
Maurice and Maralyn couldn't be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems an unlikely romance, but it works.
Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn has an idea: sell the house, build ... Read morea boat, leave England -- and its oil crisis, industrial strikes and inflation -- forever. It is hard work, turning dreams into reality, but finally they set sail for New Zealand. Then, halfway there, their beloved boat is struck by a whale and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
On their tiny raft, their love is put to the test. When Maurice begins to withdraw into himself, it falls upon Maralyn to keep them both alive. Filled with danger, spirit, and tenderness, this is a book about human connection and the human condition; about how we survive -- not just at sea, but in life.
'Extraordinary . . . Elmhirst is a terrific writer' ELIZABETH DAY
**READERS ADORE MAURICE & MARALYN**
‘A riveting tale of survival . . . and of the power of love when all appears lost’
‘A mind-blowing story of resilience and love in the face of adversity’
‘The very best kind of true story, and beautifully written’
‘I couldn’t put this book down’
‘I was absolutely hooked from the outset’
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Product Details
Publisher
Penguin Random House
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 2 to 4 working days
About Sophie Elmhirst
Sophie Elmhirst is a prizewinning writer for the Guardian Long Read and The Economist's 1843 magazine, and a contributing editor at the Gentlewoman and Harper's Bazaar. In 2020 she won the British Press Award for Feature Writer of the Year; she has also won a Foreign Press Award and been longlisted for the Orwell Prize. She first came across the ... Read morestory of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey researching a piece on our desire to escape. This is her first book. She lives in London. Show Less
Reviews for Maurice and Maralyn
Electrifying . . . a tender portrait of two unconventional souls blithely defying the conventions of their era and making a break for freedom
Fiona Sturges
Guardian
Extraordinary . . . Elmhirst is a terrific writer
ELIZABETH DAY An extraordinary survival story… Elmhirst’s reconstruction of their ordeal is riveting, told in illuminating detail
Sunday Times ... Read more
Maurice and Maralyn somehow contrives to be both gripping and elegiac. Sophie Elmhirst's graceful, confident prose is novelistic in its pleasures and profoundly moving in its impact
KALIANE BRADLEY, author of The Ministry of Time A compelling book about a shipwreck, but also as thoughtful a tale about marriage, for better and worse, as you are likely to read
Observer
Thought-provoking…compelling…tender… An ideal gift for a friend or family who likes incredible true stories of survival. But it’s also a book about love and hubris. And in that sense, it’s a book for us all.
PANDORA SYKES An amazing tale of survival . . . reminds me how incredibly hard it is to find love out there in the world
Tracey Thorn
New Statesman
This dramatic, profound human story is so beautifully told in calm, thoughtful, perfectly judged prose. I really could not put it down
NINA STIBBE, author of Love, Nina A gripping tale of maritime catastrophe but also of marriage
India Knight
Sunday Times
A gripping story of survival at sea and a haunting account of the yearning to escape . . . It hasn’t left my mind since I finished it
OLIVER BURKEMAN An epic story of adventure and survival
Daily Express
A beautiful, brilliant book, an exquisitely written piece of non-fiction that reads like a great novel Superb… Elmhirst is good at evoking an era that feels both familiar and like deep history… you really do hang on to her every word
Maggie Fergusson
Spectator
A beautiful meditation on endurance, codependence, and the power of love. A dazzling book
PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE, author of Empire of Pain With its period detail and softly poetic prose, the book melds together the sweet conjugal bonds of a quirky pair with the adrenaline kick of Jaws… It is a remarkable portrait of a marriage kept afloat against the odds
Financial Times
An exciting, fast-paced, terrifying adventure story, and at the same time a slow, gentle commentary on love
ALEXANDER MASTERS, author of Stuart: a Life Backwards Never sentimental and perfectly paced, this is the best sort of story: a true one
Economist
Maurice and Maralyn is a very accomplished bit of writing. I am not drawn to adventurers and explorers but this skilful storytelling drew me in. The scenes in the life raft were very touching indeed
JAMES REBANKS A quirky, thrilling and moving tale of a love which proved stronger than starvation, dehydration and the mighty Pacific
Peter Carty
i
This is a survival story of relentless power, an epic of human resourcefulness, and of the emotional toll taken at last by suffering’s extremity
COLIN THUBRON Show Less
